BJCC beijing-logo500
The characters translate as “man control” or “diffuse control”. The full name is 北京漫控潮流博览会 (Beijing Man controlled fashion fairs [Google] or Beijing diffuse control flow Expo [Microsoft]).
While most of the ReedPOP staff were in Brooklyn promoting the official beer of New York Comic Con, Lance Fensterman was in China, announcing the creation of the Beijing Comic Convention, to be held June 9-10, 2016!

Beijing joins the Shanghai Comic Convention as the second ReedPOP show in China, and their eighth in Asia.

The English language website is here. It’s early days, so there isn’t a lot of information, yet.

One rule, which I haven’t seen reported elsewhere, and which applies to the upcoming New York Comic Con:

NO SELFIE STICKS


The location:

(Be advised: on Google Maps, the satellite layer for China is skewed from that of the map layer.)

Public transit is available!

SUBWAY

Please take the subway line No.15 to China international exhibition center station ,and walk 1.1 km to the New CIEC.

PUBLIC TRAFFIC

All the bus of No.915, No. 918, No.970 and No. 980 from DongZhimen could go straight to New China International Exhibition Center. Please get off at MaliandianStation to the South Gate of the new CIEC, If you get off at Jiayouzhan Station you will go to the North Gate of the new CIEC.

While the massive international airport is linked to the subway, there is not an easy trip from the airport to the exhibition center. (It’s actually faster–90 minutes–to walk to the exhibition center from the airport!) Best to take a taxi or shuttle.

What’s the actual exhibition center like?

BJCC NCIEC14063_02eWell, it’s new (built in 2008), and still under construction!

The first construction session of The New Exhibition Centre of CIEC will include buildings with floorage of 355,000 square meters, which is comprised of  200,000 square meters of exhibition halls and accessorial buildings, 155,000 square meters of service buildings, such as hotel, office and the other business facilities. And the total usable on-ground floor area for exhibition will exceeds 100,000 square meters.

[Over one million square feet of exhibition space.]

As can be seen in the master plan above, there are large areas of green space and open areas outside each hall, which can be used for parking or other uses, as well as outdoor arcade linking the exhibition halls.

BJCC nciec
The view looking north.

However, there isn’t much information available about the actual NIEC. So no boring analysis of the layout from me!


Championships Of CosplayBJCC coslogo

There will be a regional contest for ReedPOP’s Championships of Cosplay, which now seems to be scheduled at most ReedPOP fan events.

The winner receives:

Beijing Championship of Cosplay’s First Place Medal

Winner gifts that worth 5,000RMB [US$785]

A pass card to the final round of C2E2 Crown Championship

One (1) fight ticket between Beijing and Chicago

Two (2) VIP tickets to the C2E2

Three (3) nights in a fancy hotel with double bed


Given the major box office grosses of China (which rivals the U.S./Canada movie market), along with cultural influence from Japan, as well as a growing middle class, both Shanghai and Beijing could rival and even surpass the comic cons of the United States. (And, maybe, even rival the 550,000 fans at Comiket.)

I wouldn’t be surprised if, in 2017, there was a third show in Hong Kong. Both Shanghai and HK will have Disneylands. HK is even more westernized than the rest of China. Oops… there is already a big show there: Ani-Com & Games Hong Kong, which drew 729,000 in 2013.

Of the top 100 metropolitan areas, China has three in the top ten, and 22 of the top 100. (The U.S.? 16.)

There’s a big, untapped market evolving in China. High speed rail (240 mph) allows fans to travel more readily from further distances. “Developing”, as we say…


 

2 COMMENTS

  1. Looking forward to hearing about your experiences in Beijing, Torsten! The air there can be hard to breathe when dust storms or temperature inversions trap smog over the city. It would be fascinating to attend the show, and see if North American companies take advantage of this market.

  2. Well, unless someone sponsors me, I won’t be visiting China for awhile.
    Gail Simone did have nice things to say about the recent Shanghai show, which had 14,114 attend the inaugural show.

    I will, however, be attending the first Vienna Comic Con, spending my Thanksgiving in Central Europe. Coffee! Beer! Wine! Chocolate! Comics!

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